Hard to Ignore

The British pound has just hit a six-year low to the dollar at $1.52. Maybe you'd think, Woot, it's the time for Americans to come over here on vacation! Except the US is in just as bad a state, and a good majority of Americans probably can't afford a holiday like that.

This was a pretty terrible year to graduate.

Obviously this economic downward spiral affects everyone, and the media industry is taking a hit now, too. Among other losses, here ITV announced that it would be cutting about a third of its work force (roughly 500 jobs lost out of 1,500 total) and cutting production spending for the year. In the US, even NBC Universal is cutting its budget back by $500 million (which, get this, is only three percent of its budget; there's your difference between media production in the US and the UK: lots and lots of money). And don't even get me started on the Screen Actors Guild.

Over on the film and TV message boards that I frequent (since I have a lot of down time these days), some people are bemoaning the lack of production work--but a lot of folks seem to be staying positive, citing that it's always been a tricky business to get into. One woman posted that she'd been applying to jobs for three weeks here, and oh-em-gee, she's getting very frustrated that she hasn't heard back from anyone. I nearly laughed along with the weathered, long-standing professional folks who went, "Three weeks! Pah! Try six months!"

By this point I've worked for two weeks (and four days, if you want to be specific) out of the six weeks that I've been here. Not a great ratio just yet. There seem to be fewer jobs posted every day now, too, to the point where I can apply to only three or four contracted jobs per day, if I'm lucky. I'm trying to find further connections in the meantime, but it's hard to stay motivated every minute of the day, if I'm being honest.

The good news is that I knew this would be hard. I don't think I sugar-coated it before I arrived. Do I wish I'd had a six-month job lined up before I got here? Absolutely. But if I were sitting at a desk for eight or nine hours a day doing something that I didn't love for the sake of a paycheck, would I be just as frustrated? Also absolutely.

On the unlikely chance that some crazy Hollywood financiers are reading my blog right now, check out this article about UK filming incentives. Then come on over here with your production, and hire me. I promise the Brits are generally very friendly, but when they're not, I'll bridge the communication gaps and make you tea.